Saturday, 5 September 2015

Select cells, ranges, rows, or columns on a worksheet

On a worksheet, you can select cells, ranges, rows, or columns — for example, to format the data in the selection, or to insert other cells, rows, or columns. You can also select all or part of the cell contents and turn on Editing mode so that you can modify the data.

You can select cells and ranges in a Microsoft Excel table just as you would select them in a worksheet, but selecting table rows and columns is different from selecting worksheet rows and columns.

Select cells, ranges, rows, or columns

To select

Do this

A single cell

Click the cell, or press the arrow keys to move
to the cell.

A range of cells

Click the first cell in the range, and then drag
to the last cell, or hold down SHIFT while you press the arrow keys to extend
the selection.

You can also select the first cell in the range,
and then press F8 to extend the selection by using the arrow keys. To stop
extending the selection, press F8 again.

A large range of cells

Click the first cell in the range, and then hold
down SHIFT while you click the last cell in the range. You can scroll to make
the last cell visible.

A large range of cells without scrolling

Click the first cell in the range to select it,
and then click in the Name box at the left end of the
formula bar.

Name box

Type the cell reference of the last cell in the
range that you want to be selected, and then hold down SHIFT while you press
ENTER.

All cells on a worksheet

Click the Select All button.

To select the entire worksheet, you can also
press CTRL+A.

Note If the worksheet contains data, CTRL+A
selects the current region. Pressing CTRL+A a second time selects the entire
worksheet.

Nonadjacent cells or cell ranges

Select the first cell or range of cells, and then
hold down CTRL while you select the other cells or ranges.

You can also select the first cell or range of
cells, and then press SHIFT+F8 to add another nonadjacent cell or range to
the selection. To stop adding cells or ranges to the selection, press
SHIFT+F8 again.

Note You cannot cancel the selection of a cell or
range of cells in a nonadjacent selection without canceling the entire
selection.

An entire row or column

Click the row or column heading.

Row heading.

Column heading

You can also select cells in a row or column by
selecting the first cell and then pressing CTRL+SHIFT+ARROW key (RIGHT ARROW
or LEFT ARROW for rows, UP ARROW or DOWN ARROW for columns).

Note If the row or column contains data,
CTRL+SHIFT+ARROW key selects the row or column to the last used cell.
Pressing CTRL+SHIFT+ARROW key a second time selects the entire row or column.

Adjacent rows or columns

Drag across the row or column headings. Or select
the first row or column; then hold down SHIFT while you select the last row
or column.

Nonadjacent rows or columns

Click the column or row heading of the first row
or column in your selection; then hold down CTRL while you click the column
or row headings of other rows or columns that you want to add to the
selection.

The first or last cell in a row or column

Select a cell in the row or column, and then
press CTRL+ARROW key (RIGHT ARROW or LEFT ARROW for rows, UP ARROW or DOWN
ARROW for columns).

The first or last cell on a worksheet or in a
Microsoft Office Excel table

Press CTRL+HOME to select the first cell on the
worksheet or in an Excel list.

Press CTRL+END to select the last cell on the
worksheet or in an Excel list that contains data or formatting.

Cells to the last used cell on the worksheet
(lower-right corner)

Select the first cell, and then press
CTRL+SHIFT+END to extend the selection of cells to the last used cell on the
worksheet (lower-right corner).

Cells to the beginning of the worksheet

Select the first cell, and then press
CTRL+SHIFT+HOME to extend the selection of cells to the beginning of the
worksheet.

More or fewer cells than the active selection

Hold down SHIFT while you click the last cell
that you want to include in the new selection. The rectangular range between
the active cell and the cell that you click becomes the new selection.